In The News – Pennsylvania Zombie and DIY Brain Fillets

Top stories:

Naked & Bloody Pennsylvania Man Gnaws On Woman’s Head! (via Perez Hilton)

Zombies Attack at Dorney Park (via Patch)

Zombies Invade Theme Park as Resident Evil Attraction Opens at Universal Studios Japan! (via Gadget Helpline)

Be Prepared:

How to Make Fake Brains and Survive the Zombie Apocalypse (via Wired)

‘Zombies’ lead to cop call (via The Now News)

County offers ‘Zombie Preparedness’ (Via Napa Valley Register)

Death and Taxes and Zombies (via Execupundit)

Germ Warfare:

Worst of West Nile virus season to come (via San Francisco Chronicle)

CDC confirms PAM as the cause of death of Indiana man last month (via Examiner)

Norovirus outbreak on Princess cruise ship sparks CDC investigation (via Alaska Dispatch)

Undead Tech:

Black Ops 2 Zombies have own campaign, included in multiplayer (via Stick Skills)

Quirky App Of The Day: Zombie Toon Brings A Cute Side To Zombies (via App Advice)

‘The Walking Dead’ zombie serial game is killer (via Longmont Daily Times-Call)

Commander Corner:

Norman Reedus Talks Season 3 of “The Walking Dead” (via Entertainment Weekly)

Michael Rooker of ‘The Walking Dead,’ ‘Henry,’ ‘Cliffhanger’ Joins 2012 Wizard World Austin Comic Con (via Wizard World)

Anthony Michael Hall filming new movie, “Friend Request” (via ABC 4)

Ghost Trek Make Up Featurette: Conor McCullagh (Face Off) and Addy Miller (via You Tube)


In The News – The Walking Dead Season 3

Top Stories: The Undead

As season 3 of “The Walking Dead” on AMC nears, fans get ready to witness the introduction of “popular characters from the comic book that the television show is based upon, including the evil governor, and fan-favorite Michonne.” (via Bluefield Daily Telegraph)

Adam Sandler has assembled former Saturday Night Live cast members to voice-over his ghoulish Hotel Transylvania. Sandler plays a Count Dracula who is the overprotective father of a “young” ghoul who at 118 years old is eager to break into the world.

“The funniest people I know,” Sandler said of his SNL pals. “That’s why I like doing movies with them.” (via The Standard)

The dead, or rather undead, walked through a shopping mall in the UK (via News Guardian)

Disaster Preparedness:

Hope for the Best, Prepare for the Worst: Disaster Preparedness With Pets (via The Huffington Post)

Many Schools Unprepared For Next Pandemic (via ABC News)

Top 7 Natural Disaster Preparedness Tips (via ABC News)

States Fail to Meet Disaster-Preparedness Standards (via Education Week)

Brown County Emergency Preparedness Fair to be Held Sept. 28th (via Brownwood News)

Byron Rempel: Undead and loving it (via National Post)

 


Commander Monday – Juliette Terzieff

Able to leap a convenience store counter in a single bound, more powerful than a Zombie Energizer Bunny on a double-shot espresso, our Commander-in-Chief and Red Brigade Commander Juliette Terzieff weaves the perfect balance of sass and class, compassion and humor, gentleness and strength. Most importantly, she never leaves home without a crossbow somewhere in the back seat, and usually knows where to find a roll of duct tape. A former foreign war correspondent with combat training, journalist, fiction and non-fiction writer, public speaker, and self-described “avid monster freak from birth,” Juliette is a force to be reckoned with, and there is not a single person on the planet better suited to lead us forward in the coming days.

 

Juliette with Sgt at Arms Lora Lapoint

Before the formation of the Zombie Survival Crew, Juliette could be found in various locations all over the world, including war zones in the Balkan, South Asian, and Middle East regions, flexing her journalist muscle to cover complex political, globalization and human rights issues. Her website will tell you that she is a public speaker who has covered a wide range of topics from human trafficking and child labor to American politics and international relations. We’ve read her in Newsweek and the San Francisco Chronicle, heard her live on CNN International and All American Talk Radio. Recently she was interviewed by Alternative Revolt (page 60-62), Dark Media City and The Throw Down with JB Maddawg. Juliette writes and edits newsletters for Smartbrief on development, humanitarian aid, public health concerns and international policy; and heads up the communications team for the Future 500, headquartered out of San Fransisco and Tokyo. Most importantly, she works tirelessly to organize and lead fellow ZSC Commanders Michael Rooker, IronE Singleton, Neil Brown, Jr and dozens of other actors, writers and musicians in preparation for the dark days to come.

 

With Green Brigade Commander IronE Singleton

Our fearless leader has been busy lately. Over the last year her travels have carried her North, South, East and West on missions too numerous to count. From Canada to Texas, Kentucky, Florida, Virginia and Philadelphia, Juliette has scouted new recruits far and wide. She participated in the Run for Your Lives 5K race with Green Brigade Commander Irone Singleton in March of 2012, and more recently completed a mission in Cherry Hill, New Jersey despite numerous  failed attempts by the UGA to place tracking devices on her vehicle. Fortunately, Juliette was not alone in this particular mission, and her loyal recruits foiled the UGA’s plot by relocating the vehicle at twice a day.

Juliette is currently on a very special mission in the South. While we are not able to divulge the exact nature of this mission (she forgot to tell us), we have learned that she has successfully tracked and located a rarely-seen wild rooker in the Atlanta area, and was able to secure a steady southern-style food supply while away from ZSC Command. Whatever her goal on this mission, we are confident that she will succeed and remain watchful for her next update.

If you are just now joining us for this series, please check out our other Commander Monday reports!


In The News: Zombie Apocalypse v College

Top Stories:

What is more difficult to survive, the Zombie Apocalypse or your first semester at college? Two instructors at Northern Kentucky University have a solution for that. (via The Northerner)

The Zombie Dash

DATE: Unknown; post-apocalypse

SITUATION: Dire. Recon footage shows rural and suburban fortifications have been completely overrun. The viral outbreak to the east, once limited to these outer regions, has gone full-scale, spreading westward like wildfire among the dense populations of the city. Most citizens have been infected and quarantined.

MISSION: You are part of a small band of survivors on a scouting mission who must enter the quarantine area under the cover of darkness. Avoid the ravenous zombie hordes roaming the night and make it back to safety.

October 13 – Holly State Recreation Area, Michigan

Be Prepared:

Do you have $1,550 burning a hole in your pocket and an itchy trigger finger whenever anyone mentions the Zombiepocalypse? Yankee Hill Machinery has produced a stunning zombie-inspired AR-15 rifle, the SOC-150 “Zombie Hunter”. (via Guns.com)

Germ Warfare:

State, federal health regulators: Whooping cough cases rise significantly (via Boston Globe)

CDC: West Nile cases rise 40 percent in 1 week (via Calgary Herald)

Up to 1 million mangoes recalled in Salmonella outbreak (via CNN)

Midwestern researcher discovers new virus related to hantavirus (via L.A. Times)

Yosemite officials warn more visitors about hantavirus (via L.A. Times)

1st victim to die from new swine flu strain had contact with hogs at Ohio county fair (via CBS News)

Undead Tech:

Plants vs. Zombies Wages War As Zen Pinball Table (via Cinema Blend)

Dead Island Riptide First Look Preview — We Have to Go Back…and Kill More Zombies! (via G4)

‘ZombiU’ Buckingham Palace escape trailer unveiled (via Digital Spy)

Commander Corner

Sean Patrick Flanery and J. LaRose sighting! On October 23rd, sinners will be able to purchase the DVD and Blu-ray for The Devil’s Carnival.

“In THE DEVIL’S CARNIVAL sinners are invited to a theme park where they endure the repetition of their transgressions. What chances do a conniving kleptomaniac, a gullible teenager, and an obsessed father stand when facing their own moral failings? Lucifer and his colorful cast of singing carnies invite you to grab a ticket to THE DEVIL’S CARNIVAL to find out!”


Myth Bashing – It’s a Trap!

We’re back to tackle another round of myth bashing Zombie Survival Crew style. This segment is here to help you, loyal brigadiers, from using bad information to protect yourselves during the Zombiepocalypse. Your safety is important to us.

Myth: There is no way to build a functional zombie trap.

Fact: Well, not if you go into the planning stages expecting to remake a mousetrap in human size. Laying a bloody arm on a wood platform and rigging a pressure switch to release a giant iron bar to crush whatever happens to get in the way seems like a cool idea (and yes, I did consider building one just because it seemed cool) but that isn’t what we’re talking about here.

The idea behind a zombie trap is to capture and dispose of as many undead as possible with minimal risk or loss of human life. Given that we’re placing these traps in what will likely be a wasteland after the first wave of attacks, there isn’t much concern about how much collateral damage these traps cause.

With that in mind, I say kill them with fire.

Many of the zombie trap designs I came across while researching involved making modifications to your home that would contain one or two zombies at a time, allowing you to dispatch them with a blow to the skull. That’s all well and good if you live in a rural area with a low population. The more people around you, the more potential zombies are lurking next door.

Down the road from my current undisclosed location is a string of abandoned warehouses. These were businesses that went belly-up in the latest financial crisis and just locked the doors, leaving everything inside. A few of them have mountains of wooden pallets. While scouting locations, I came up with this zombie trap plan:

Cut off a quarter of the building’s interior with chain link fencing that will withhold a good amount of weight. Make sure this portion of the building has at least three exit points. This is your staging area, be sure to secure the exterior of each exit point with solid walls of metal sheeting. In the rest of the building, lay down old carpeting and stack up anything flammable to create a maze of sorts. Cover all but one door and seal any windows that can be used to escape in that portion of the space.

Now for the part that can get a tad hairy if your team isn’t prepared. You’re going to have a party. Not really, but that is about the noise range you need to reach in order to draw the zombies in. Be loud. Light a barbecue (outside, that place is rigged to ignite FAST). Basically, you’re advertising that humans are present and waiting to be slaughtered like teens at a summer camp.

Once the zombies find a way to get to the yummy humans inside the building, you need to act quickly. Prepare about half a dozen or so Molotov cocktails and have them ready to go. Light and chuck them into the stacks of flammable materials. Once the building goes up, so will the zombies. Don’t worry about blocking the door they came into. They’ll bottleneck trying to escape.

The important part is to get out of the building as quickly as possible once it ignites. Outside forces need to make sure there is a clear line to your vehicles to get out of dodge before the building comes down.

Is my zombie trap a loss of resources? Yes. But if you plan to stay in the city, sacrifices will need to be made in order to put a serious dent in the undead population. It isn’t the perfect zombie trap, however it will work if done right.

Do you have a zombie trap planned? Share it with us in the comments.

Is there a zombie myth you think we should dig into? Send to us in the comments


Disaster Planning Assistance – Isaac

As Hurricane Isaac moves its way across the U.S. Gulf Coast we are reminded, once again, of the importance of pre-planning to manage a manmade, zombie or natural disaster. We here at Zombie Survival Crew command want all our brigade members to be prepared and stay safe whatever disaster hits. Some things are, ultimately, out of our control…but we can all be ready with supplies, plans and contact information to deal with most situations.

To help make sure you’re ready, we’ve compiled a list of sites that provide disaster planning assistance as well as links to disaster relief organizations and official data centers.


Zombie Survival Crew Alert – Isaac

ZOMBIE SURVIVAL CREW ALERT

The command of the Zombie Survival Crew would like all members in the path of hurricane Isaac to take safety precautions as necessary. Please check in and let us know that you are safe or if in need of assistance. Once we have gathered the information, we will keep all crew members apprised of the situation and whether any help is required.

If you are on the United States Gulf Coast, please stay alert and watch for updates via the government weather channel (weather.gov) and track Isaac’s progress through the National Hurricane Center (www.nhc.noaa.gov).

If you are in the path of Isaac, please check in with command either via this post or via Twitter or Facebook. Stay safe out there. More information will be posted tomorrow.


Myth Bashing – Heads Up!

From under the desk of RC Murphy

It’s time for another round of myth bashing with your Zombie Survival Crew commanders. We do all of the research on the myths you guys send our way to be sure none of us end up chow during the Zombiepocalypse.

Myth: Cutting off a zombie’s head is just as good as destroying their brain.

Fact: Taking shortcuts will get you killed.

Did you know that the human brain can survive up to two minutes without blood being actively pumped to it from the heart? That is a normal brain in a normal body, without any zombie funny business mucking things up. Neat, huh?

Now we have to mix in the various definitions of zombies—all of whom in fact have no heartbeat to drive their bodily systems. Zombies undergo a reversal of sorts from how we are hardwired to function. The animalistic portion of the brain drives them and that’s it. The nervous system, which regulates heartbeat and lung function as well as pain receptors, doesn’t come back on line. Essentially a switch is flipped and they become eating machines without the ability to step away from the meal and say, “I’m full” because that portion of their body just doesn’t function.

What does that have to do with decapitation? Everything.

Zombies do not need their bodies to be attached to their heads in order to “live”. Everything is contained within their grey matter. So even if you send their head flying a good fifty feet away from the rest of their body, the zombie will still attempt to sate the unrelenting hunger propelling them through the world. This doesn’t pose much of a threat unless you leave the head lying somewhere without destroying the brain. Someone could walk past unawares and get within biting range. Ankles biters are still fully capable of infecting someone. That infection will be brought back to your base camp.

Boom. Outbreak amongst the survivors.

Not to mention, leaving a zombie’s head to lie there snapping at passing squirrels and hikers is simply inhumane. The ZSC has always taken the stance that if you must kill an infected human or dispatch a zombie, do it as humanely as possible. If you were in their shoes would you want to become a potential soccer ball for the undead? I think not. So yes, decapitation works, but only to neutralize the threat. After that, you must destroy the zombie’s brain so there are no accidental attacks.

What zombie myths have you heard? Submit your myths in the comments below and we’ll do our best to prove if they are fact or just plain nonsense.

Check out more of the Myth Bashing series


Moira Rescue Mission: Part VI

The mission to rescue Blue Brigade member Moira Jones continues…

A secret self-organized unit within the ZSC received the Urgent call for help from Moira Jones and sprang into action. Although the city is awash with walkers, these brave souls put together a mission plan on hearing Moira’s plight. Exactly what we expect from Zombie Survival Crew members. Below is a brief mission recap, then a continuation of the field reports pouring in following up on earlier reports of the mission’s genesis.

MISSION: Rescue one Moira Jones from 6th floor of over run hospital.
OBJECTIVE: Search for and rescue Moira Jones and bring to safety.
STRATEGY: Rendezvous with fellow members of the ZSC and use skill sets to bring Moira Jones to safety.

Field Reports:

PERSONNEL:

The Rescue Team

Emma’s POV (With Apryl):
     We moved slowly through the darkened hospital. I tried to steady my frayed nerves and ordered myself to get a grip. Purple Brigade prides itself on the ability to think clearly in any situation, and I needed to be on top of my game for this mission—even if I’d forgotten my go bag in my haste to get to the hotel. Luckily, Jess remembered hers and so I’d been able to receive a bit more information from the Purple Brigade leader, the Oracle.
     No one knew how many walkers there were, but the situation didn’t look good. Walkers had easy prey in a hospital, and so far there had not been one single report of anyone making it out alive. Still we had two powerful zombie-killing positives on our side: Blue Brigade Leader Norman Reedus and the Leader of Special Forces, Michael Rooker.
     With them leading us, we had hope. But each moment intensified the danger Moira faced, and there were so many questions swirling through my brain: Where did she end up? How much food did she manage to grab? Were there other survivors with her? Had she been bitten?
     I shook my head. I needed to make sure we got the first level clear before we could really begin looking for Moira. Out of the whole group, I was probably the newest and greenest. Sure, I’d taken on walkers before, but nothing of this magnitude. Frankly, in terms of combat skills, Luna, Jess’s zombie-killing dog, surpassed me by far.
     I was glad I’d been paired with Apryl. The woman could wield her Desert Eagles like no one’s business. She made that clear when she took out a walker reaching for Norman by firing an impossible shot right over his shoulder and directly into its head.

Purple Brigade

     I tightened my grip on my full Tang 440, twenty-inch blade. At least I knew how to use the thing. It was light, easy to swing, and razor-sharp.
     We couldn’t get in and out of the hospital without a fight. Our entrance alone made that quite clear.
     “All right people,” Michael whispered, loud enough for us to hear but quiet enough to keep any nearby walker from hearing us, “you all know what to do. You still have your walkie-talkies; so don’t forget to keep us informed as to where you are. We can’t help you if you get pinned down by walkers and we don’t know where you are, and we’re not going to go running all over the hospital looking for you when we’re trying to find Moira, got it?”
     We nodded. He looked each of us in the eye, and I held his gaze, drawing encouragement from his determination. We were usually a light-hearted and cheerful bunch, especially amongst each other, but not now. Finally, Michael gave a satisfied nod.
     “Let’s go get her. Just remember to watch your partner’s back, and if one of you gets bit…well, you know what to do.”
     I swallowed and glanced at Apryl, who nodded to Michael. I knew that if Apryl got bitten, I’d have to put her down, but I wasn’t sure if I could bring myself to do it.
     Cross that bridge if you come to it, I told myself.
     “Take out any walker you see as quietly as you can, if it’s in your way.” Michael whispered, lowering his weapon again. “And don’t forget, we’re headed for the sixth floor, ward six. If you find her before the rest of us, let us know and we’ll hurry up there.”
     We all nodded again.
     Everyone began to split off into their respective groups: Michael and Tiffany, and Apryl and me. But as we started to move apart, spreading out, our phones suddenly crackled to life and we all stopped short, looking at each other, then hurriedly each of us scrambled to answer. There was only one possible explanation for all of the phones going off at once: news from HQ. The ZSC managed to set up a fairly stable system of communication that allowed a single call to be made to up to sixteen people, so no doubt Norman’s crew were receiving the same call.
     “You have Rooker, Tiffany, Apryl and Emma,” Michael said into his phone. “Go ahead.”
     “And you have Norman, Eve, Jess and Rebecca. Go ahead.” Norman’s voice came in over the phone.
     “Rescue team, this is Yellow First Lieutenant Sean Patrick Flanery.”
     Each of us looked sharply at each other. A sense of foreboding settled itself into the pit of my stomach but I tried not to give in to it.
     “We’re reading you, Flanery,” Rooker said. “What’s the problem?”
     “ZSC HQ just received a call from Moira.” Sean responded, and I felt my breath suddenly cut itself off. Moira called? She was alive?
     “Moira contacted HQ?” Norman asked, sounding as relieved as I felt, “Is she all right?”
     “I don’t know.” Sean said. I could hear the tenseness in his voice, which made me worry. He wasn’t one to get worried easily.
     “What happened?” Rooker asked. “Is she in a secure location?”
     “She said she was, but now I’m not so sure. While I was on the line with her something happened, it sounded like glass breaking and I think something grabbed her. I couldn’t make out much more before the line went dead.”
     Silence fell. No one said a word.
     Finally Norman spoke, softly, but determinedly.
     “We’re going after her, anyway,” he said. “Did she give you a position?”
     “She said she was still on the sixth floor, and she said the only way up was the stairs.”
     “Then we’re taking the stairs.” Michael said, “Can you give us any more info?
     “Sorry, that’s all I got before the line went dead,” he answered. “Stay safe. Flanery out.”
     He hung up and we slid our phones back into our pockets.
     We split up and hurried off in different directions while I conjured up in my mind the map of the hospital Jess showed us. The nearest stairwell lay beyond the critical care ward, through another hall. Apryl unsheathed her hunting knife and I readied my blade as we fell into step beside each other.
     Power was out in the building. Very little light illuminated our path. We peered into darkened offices and patient rooms as we passed, ready to strike if we saw any movement or heard any moaning. Dark smears of blood covered the walls and floor. I could dimly make out what looked like dismembered limbs littered across the cold marble floor and occasionally a shredded corpse.
     Luckily the corpses in the corridor were just lunch, no coming back.
     I shuddered at the thought that this was the new normal. What was around us—this eerie quiet, this feeling of apprehension…of being hunted, this was our reality—a dark new world extending towards a grim a future we were hard-pressed to escape. Unless we could stop the outbreaks. That was what the Purple Brigade worked on. If Jess and I made it out alive, we’d have a good field report to make back to The Oracle.
     We reached the doors to the critical care ward and paused, listening to the hall that lay beyond it. We couldn’t hear anything. Apryl looked at me. “You ready?”
     I nodded, tightening my grip on the blade. One… She raised one of her silenced Desert Eagles and switched the safety off. Two… I grabbed the door handle and tensed. Three… I jerked the door open and we rushed into the critical ward.
     I’d never seen such carnage before. Ever. Blood, guts, flesh… all caked on the walls and floor, and strips of something I didn’t care to identify hung from the ceiling.
     Blood dripped from the ceiling tiles. The emergency exit light glowed red, making the whole place seem to be nothing but blood. The stench was unbearable. The smell of rotten flesh, of death, wafted through the air and I wrinkled my noise, swallowing to keep my stomach under control.
     “Oh, man,” Apryl muttered.
     Bodies of patients and doctors alike littered the floor, most torn apart, their intestines strewn across the cold floor, their muscles and organs exposed. Through it all waded fourteen walkers.
     The one closest to us—missing an arm and an eye—lifted its head and looked at us. A guttural hiss emitted from its disfigured face. The others turned to look. Their soulless, lifeless eyes bored straight through us. The unnatural glint of an insatiable hunger brightened their gaze as they spotted new prey.
     Together, we rushed the walkers. She took down the one missing an arm with a clean shot through the head. I swung my sword through the neck of what had been a doctor.
     His body crumpled, but his head clacked its jaws together as it tried to get a bite of my boot. I stomped down, feeling the sickening crunch of bones snapping, and turned my attention back to the others. Apryl felled two more as they approached. I took down two patients and a nurse. Apryl marched forward, duel wielding her Desert Eagles now, putting a walker down with each shot. She took down four more. I got another two, but as I swept my arm back from a stroke, I lost my footing on the slick, blood-covered floor and stumbled against a walker. It grabbed hold of my arms and growled. I tried to jerk free, but it wasn’t letting go of its food so easily. I pulled against it, harder this time, trying to kick myself free at the same time. It wasn’t working.
     “Down!” Apryl barked and I obediently lowered my head as the walker snarled.
     Blood and bone fragments splattered all over my face. The walker suddenly dropped, shot through the head. There was no time to wipe my face or thank Apryl. I quickly drove my blade into the face of another nurse and then pulled it free and spun, sword outstretched, and swiped off the head of another’s head. That’d been a close call. Very close. I turned to Apryl, shaken, but alive.
     “Thanks,” I said, wiping the gore off. “Are you okay?” She nodded, but looked me over worriedly as she approached.
     No bites on either of us. I needed to step up my game if I wanted to get through this.
     I looked down at the walkers, now still, on the ground as Apryl took out her walkie-talkie.
     “Apryl and Emma,” she said. “In the critical ward. Squirrel.”
     We grinned at each other and hurried back down the hall. Some of my confidence was restored as we made our way down the corridor and the other teams continued to check in. Not one had given the ‘Oreo’ alert, much to my relief. I kept reassuring myself that we would find Moira. She would be fine.
     There were more walkers in the next hallway, but not as many as in the previous one. I let Apryl handle it and instead pictured the layout of the hospital once again, placing our teams in the wards and corridors they’d last radioed in from. We were all still on the first floor, but judging from where Jess, Luna, and Rebecca’s reports, they were fast moving up. We were making headway.
     We paused by the stairwell door, hearing a slow shuffling coming from the other side. I nodded to Apryl and she gave a quick, powerful kick. The door slammed back, straight into two walkers. While they were dazed, she unsheathed her knife and took them out.
     “Apryl and Emma, entering a stairwell. Squirrel so far, we’re going up.”
     It looked like some debris was blocking most of the doors. We’d be doing a bit of climbing to get over it, but it wasn’t anything we couldn’t handle. Everyone radioed in that they were heading up. The higher we climbed, the darker it became, and soon we were in almost complete darkness.
     “We can work around this.” I murmured to Apryl as I heard her stumble over a piece of debris. “We’re to the third floor I think, so we’re half way there.”
     “I’m all right,” she said. “It’s just annoying. We need to move faster. I’m worried sick about Moira.”
     “I know,” I answered, trying to see her in the darkness, “I think we could try and go a little—”
     Something suddenly grabbed my leg. A growl rumbled in the darkness. I yelped and fell back, banging my head against a stair.
     “What?” Apryl called out. “Where is it?”
     My head spun. The walker tugged on my leg. I tried to pull free from its grip, and surprisingly, my leg lifted it up, so it was a small walker at least.
      Apryl rushed over and lashed out with her knife, but missed and slashed my leg. I clenched my teeth to keep from crying out as the skin split apart. Instead, I reached for my own knife.
     “I got it,” I told her and slammed my leg back down.
     The walker growled but let go. I spun my knife and drove it into its head.
     “Are you okay?” Apryl asked, rushing to my side.
     “Y-Yeah,” I assured her, wincing at the stinging pain in my leg and covering the wound with my hand, “I’m okay. Could you reach into my bag and get out the bandages? I think you cut me.”
     She quickly handed them over. I wrapped up the wound as best as I could, hoping that the scent wouldn’t alert any walkers or leave a trail for them to follow. I pulled out my flashlight and flipped it on to take a quick look at the walker, to make sure it was dead.

Red Brigade

     “Oh my…” Apryl breathed.
     It was a toddler. Or, had been a toddler. Its neck and part of its leg bore huge bite marks—a little girl with pretty, long brunette hair caked with blood. Her little hands were dirty and covered in blood as well. Neither Apryl nor I spoke for several minutes. We resumed our silent ascent up the stairs.
     We finally made it up to the sixth floor and approached the door, relieved, but wary. We slid our weapons out in preparation.
     Apryl went first. There was an odd sound as she yanked on the door. She gave a sort of chuckle and whispered, “You have to push it open.”
     I laughed a little and waited for her to push it open, but something was wrong. She grunted as she shoved against it as hard as she could, but the door didn’t budge.
     “Give me a hand,” she whispered. I edged in and shoved against it with her. It was no use. The door wouldn’t budge.
     “Oh you have got to be kidding me,” she growled. I wasn’t much happier about the situation.
     “I guess they locked it or barricaded it. We’ll have to go back down and try the fifth floor.”
     “Such a waste of time,” Apryl said as we started back down.
     I nodded, not that she could see me, but she expressed my sentiments exactly. If this door was barricaded, what about the fifth floor door? We’d probably end up having to double back and find the other stairwell, which would cost us a lot of time. Time we didn’t have.
     Both Apryl and I rushed back down to the fifth floor door and tried it. It too was barricaded, but gave way a little as Apryl leaned against it, so I helped her and together we shoved against it as hard as we could.
     After shoving and grunting for several minutes, we managed to push the door open wide enough to squeeze through. For a moment, I thought we were alone and somehow stumbled across an area that didn’t have any walkers. But just as Apryl started to reach for her walkie-talkie, we heard it. A sickly groan came from one of the rooms. A walker in a hospital gown emerged, staring at us. Apryl started to go for it, but I caught her arm and stopped her as more walkers emerged from the other rooms. Their moans grew louder. More and more began to issue forth.
     “We’ve got this.” Apryl raised her Desert Eagles while I unsheathed my blade.
     The thought that one of these things might be trying to get to Moira filled me with disgust and anger.
     We’re coming, I thought. We’re coming, Moira. Just sit tight.
     “You take the left side, I’ll get the right, okay?”
     I nodded, then we both rushed forward. Walkers fell with every bullet Apryl fired and with every swing of my blade.
     We’re not going to let these things stop us. They’ve taken enough from us already: our families, our homes, and our security. We’re not about to let them take Moira, too.


Trouble Brewing?

From the bunny cage of RC Murphy

Photographer: Fernando Rodrigues

Since the mishap in Florida, we’ve been closely monitoring communication lines between UGA (Unnamed Government Agency) agents and their superior commanders. Things have been quiet on that front for the most part, until this past week. Below is the decoded message we intercepted from Agents Smith and Wiggins to the field office in northern Utah.

We are declaring a state of emergency for the South East quadrant. The serum released in May as an in-field study of our ZSF program has mutated and spread beyond what the lab techs predicted. Attempts to keep the attacks have been mostly successful, but we cannot contain this on our own.

Send assistance ASAP.

The field office sent the following reply:

In an effort to remain under the radar, we cannot at the present send additional forces to the South East quadrant without alerting the ZSC to our plans. Dispose of the infected and maintain efforts to keep the media silenced.

Further orders will be sent via usual channels.

We were correct to assume UGA interference in the current rash of strange news hitting the airwaves. What is project ZSF? How far has this serum of theirs spread? Rest assured that your ZSC commanders are looking into this current problem.

Again, we ask that if you witness unusual behavior, please contact local authorities. Double check your weapons and go bags, brigadiers. Plans have been put into motion to counteract the UGA threat. Remain vigilant and hopeful. We will get to the bottom of this.